David Gordon (choreographer)

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David Gordon (July 14, 1936 – January 29, 2022) was an American dancer, choreographer,

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, and theatrical director prominent in the world of

postmodern dance Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form that came into popularity in the early 1960s. While the term "postmodern" took on a different meaning when used to describe dance, the dance form did take inspiration from the ideologies of th ...

and performance. Based in New York City, Gordon's work has been seen in major performance venues across the United States, Europe, South America and Japan, and has appeared on television on

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's ''

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'' and '' Alive TV'', and the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

and

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in Great Britain. Twice a

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(1981 and 1987), Gordon has been a panelist of the dance program panels of the

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and the

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, and chairman of the former. He was a member of the Actors Studio, and was a founder of the Center for Creative Research. Gordon was married to Valda Setterfield, a dancer and actress born in

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, who was for 10 years a featured soloist with the

Merce Cunningham Dance Company Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

. She appears regularly in Gordon's work, and has been referred to as his "

muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

". Together, they have been called "The Barrymores of postmodern dance." Their son, playwright, actor, and theatrical director Ain Gordon, has collaborated with Gordon on a number of projects. Gordon's work has been archived in the

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. Gordon also created a digital archive called ''Archiveography'' which covers both his personal and professional lives.

Style and process

Like most postmodernists in dance, Gordon employs pedestrian movement in his work, Jowitt, Deborah:

Gordon makes polished patterns out of shambling, plebian movement.

Jowitt, Deborah (May 29, 1978) "'Don't You Wonder What He's Thinking?' 'No'" ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' but he was notable for his frequent use of spoken dialogue, even in "dance" pieces, as well as his Brechtian rejection of illusion coupled with an interest in theatricality. Banes, Sally:

In the debate on theatricality among post-Cunningham choreographers, Gordon stands in favor of spectacle. But he uses spectacular moments and glamorous touches cunningly, often intensifying them until a gap between the movement relationships and their extravagant theatrical overlay throws the movement into high relief.

Banes, Sally (May 1, 1978) "David Gordon, or, The Ambiguities" ''Village Voice'' He was quoted as saying "I

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

to use mundane means to a magical end." Croce, Arlene (November 29, 1982) "Profiles: Making Work". ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' A contrarian by nature, Gordon creates works which are founded on structural clarity, which he then undercuts: "I always find some way to screw up a fabulously straightforward structure," Gordon has said, "I can't seem to avoid that." Carroll, Noël (December 6, 1979) "Frieze Frame" ''

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'' Another of Gordon's hallmarks is his fondness for recycling previously used materials, both choreographic and physical. According to critic

Arlene Croce Arlene Louise Croce (born May 5, 1934) founded '' Ballet Review'' magazine in 1965. She was a dance critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1973 to 1998. Career Prior to Croce's long career as a dance writer, she also wrote film criticis ...

: "Gordon is a collagist. Many of his dances and set pieces ... can be lifted out of context and combined with new material to make a new impression." Croce, Arlene (June 18, 1984) "Dancing: Life Studies" ''The New Yorker'' This is particularly true with his use of gestures, which when seen in one context can appear meaningless or arbitrary, but which will pick up meaning and appear as deliberate when, for instance, accompanied by music or text. According to Gordon:

Movement is ambiguous until you place it against some background. ... I use a great many repetitions with variations to make the ambiguities of movement apparent. Exploring the alternate possible meanings of gesture is one of my major concerns.

Gordon's pieces frequently reference films and other aspects of popular culture, and are often autobiographical, or at least apparently so, with the distinction between true facts and fictionalized autobiography deliberately obscured. Smith, Amanda (January 1985) "Autobiography and the Avant-Garde". '' Dancemagazine'' His pieces often employ humor, sometimes in self-deprecation, and he has been called one of the few "comic spirits" produced by the postmodern dance movement. Gordon was very aware of the people who performed his works, and frequently tailored the pieces to the specific abilities of the dancers they were constructed on. He said "Dances may be glorious reverberating abstractions or eloquent high-class dance storytelling or thoughtful, emotion-provoking nonlinear narratives, but dancing, no matter what, always seems to be about the people who do it." Later in life, Gordon was to say "I take on projects I don’t know how to do, and I relish the dangerous journey."

Early life and career

Gordon, a native of New York City, was born on July 14, 1936, to Samuel and Rose (Wunderlich) Gordon, both of whose parents were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. He grew up on the Lower East Side and in Coney Island and graduated from

Seward Park High School __NOTOC__ The Seward Park Campus is a "vertical campus" of the New York City Department of Education located at 350 Grand Street at the corner of Essex Street, in the Lower East Side/Cooperative Village neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. ...

. Growing up, he saw movies in neighborhood theaters and vaudeville shows uptown and watched television, and these influences – such as Milton Berle on TV and Fanny Brice singing " Second Hand Rose" – later informed his first dance pieces. After high school, he received a BFA from Brooklyn College, Banes, Sally (May 1, 1978) "David Gordon, or, The Ambiguities" ''Village Voice'' where he first studied English and then switched to art under painter

Ad Reinhardt Adolph Dietrich Friedrich Reinhardt (December 24, 1913 – August 30, 1967) was an abstract painter active in New York for more than three decades. He was a member of the American Abstract Artists (AAA) and part of the movement center ...

, took voice lessons to get rid of his Yiddish accent, and joined the modern dance club, and, at the insistence of a friend, auditioned for and got the lead role of the witch boy in the college's production of '' Dark of the Moon''.Gordon:

a fine arts major in college, I followed an exceedingly attractive young woman wearing peculiar earrings with live guppies in them to what turned out to be the Modern Dance Club. Being six feet tall and male, I was immediately put into a performance. At the same time I met another young woman from the Theatre Department who got me to go to an audition for ''Dark of the Moon''. Two young men were vying vehemently for the role of the witch boy when I walked in, and the director said to me, "Hey you at the back of the room. Come up here and read." I amazed myself by performing with something resembling a southern accent, and immediately got the part.

Gordon, David (January 1983) Remarks made during the "Collaboration: Investigating New Forms" session at the

Theatre Communications Group Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is a non-profit service organization headquartered in New York City that promotes professional non-profit theatre in the United States. The organization also publishes ''American Theatre'' magazine and ''ARTSEA ...

National Conference in June 1982. Published in "TCG Focus: Combining Forces" in ''Theatre Communications'' Out of college, Gordon got a job dressing the windows at "Azuma" in Greenwich Village, which sold products from Japan. He was to hold this job, which expanded to dressing all the windows in the Azuma chain, well into his dance career, until he made the decision to attempt to make a living as a dancer/choreographer.Gordon, Davi
"Archiveography" website
/ref> A chance meeting in

Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...

in 1957 – "a scene right out of Hollywood", in his words – led to Gordon joining the dance company of choreographer

James Waring James Waring (November 1, 1922 - December 2, 1975) was a dancer, choreographer, costume designer, theatre director, playwright, poet, and visual artist, based in New York City from 1949 until his death in 1975. He was a prolific choreographer and ...

, where he met Setterfield, who had recently followed her friend David VaughanRobertson, Allen (Autumn 1985) "Valda Setterfield - The early years" ''Dance Theatre Journal'' Vaughan and Setterfield have remained good friends, and he appeared via photograph as

the Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

in Gordon's ''An Audience with the Pope'', as well as in Ain Gordon's ''Art, Life & Show Biz'', again by image only. Vaughan had a long career as a dancer, choreographer, actor, singer and, notably, the long-time archivist for the

He was also a prolific dance writer and a scholar on the work of Frederick Ashton. from England. Waring was to be a mentor to Gordon, introducing him to John Cage and Robert Rauschenberg, taking him to museums to see modern art, and telling him to watch films by

Laurel & Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in t ...

and W. C. Fields, all of which influenced Gordon's later works. He was to perform with Waring's company through 1962. Later in life, Gordon was to curate an exhibition about Waring at the

. Gordon and Setterfield were married on January 28, 1961, and remained so until his death. Gordon studied with Merce Cunningham and

Louis Horst Louis Horst (born January 12, 1884, Kansas City, Missouri – died January 23, 1964, New York City) was a composer, and pianist. He helped to define the principles of modern dance choreographic technique, most notably the matching of choreography t ...

at the Connecticut College Summer School of Dance, which would later become the

American Dance Festival The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also ho ...

, and in New York took the composition class given by Judith and Robert Dunn, which led to his becoming a founding artist of the

Judson Dance Theater Judson Dance Theater was a collective of dancers, composers, and visual artists who performed at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village, Manhattan New York City between 1962 and 1964. The artists involved were avant garde experimentalists ...

concerts at the

Judson Church The Judson Memorial Church is located on Washington Square South between Thompson Street and Sullivan Street, near Gould Plaza, opposite Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. I ...

; these began in 1962 and continued through 1966. Banes, Sally. "Earthly Bodies: Judson Dance Theater" in Perron, Wendy and Cameron, Daniel J. (eds.) (1981) ''Judson Dance Theater: 1962-1966'' (exhibition catalogue) Bennington, Vermont: The Bennington College Judson Project Gordon made solos and duets for himself and Setterfield, which he showed at the

Living Theatre The Living Theatre is an American theatre company founded in 1947 and based in New York City. It is the oldest experimental theatre group in the United States. For most of its history it was led by its founders, actress Judith Malina and painter/po ...

and the

Paula Cooper Gallery The Paula Cooper Gallery is an art gallery in New York City, founded in 1968 by . History Predecessors Cooper ran her own space, the ''Paula Johnson Gallery'', from 1964 to 1966, where Walter De Maria launched his first solo show in New York. ...

, among other downtown venues. He also participated in the "First New York Theater Rally," organized by Steve Paxton and Alan Solomon.Gordon was in the first group to perform Rainer's seminal piece ''Trio A'', along with Rainer and Paxton. Rainer says that Gordon was doubtful at first about his ability to execute it in the proper style.

Now I say anyone can master the style, or just about anyone.

Rainer, Yvonne (2000) "Statement for ''PAST/Forward''" in Banes (2003), p.210McDonagh (1971) p.272 Gordon's early works included: *''Mama Goes Where Poppa Goes'' (1960) – his first duet for himself and Setterfield, *''Mannequin Dance'' (1962),According to Banes, during the performance of ''Mannequin Dance'', choreographer

provided sound accompaniment – billed as "Music" (se
Program from "A Concert of Dance" at Judson Church (July 6, 1962)
– by handing out balloons to the audience and requesting that they be blown up, and then have their air slowly released. Banes (2003), p.50 *''Helen's Dance'' (1962), *''Random Breakfast'' (1963) – in which Setterfield did a striptease, and Gordon impersonated Milton Berle impersonating

Carmen Miranda Carmen Miranda, (; born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, 9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, dancer, Broadway actress and film star who was active from the late 1920s onwards. Nicknamed "The Br ...

;Sally Banes writes about ''Random Breakfast'' that it

parodied the 'Judson Church Dance Factory Gold Rush in which choreography ran rampant' ... ''Prefabricated Dance'', the commentary on Gordon;s own choreographer colleagues, involved improvised instructions on how to make a modern dance.

Banes (2003), pp. 13-14 and *''Silver Pieces (Fragments)'' (1964).''Silver Pieces (Fragments)'' was performed under two different names, "Fragments" in Philadelphia and "Silver Pieces" at the Judson Church. The evening-long piece was created from odds and ends of unfinished and abandoned solos and duets for Gordon and Setterfield, tied together with the visual device of a television set, but with no other thematic connection between the constituent parts. In 1981, Gordon wrote that for the New York performance:

I used my home television set sprayed silver. Valda and I wore tights and leotards sprayed silver and plastic child wigs (like swimming caps) sprayed silver ... riticDon McDonagh said in ''The Rise and Fall and Rise of Modern Dance'' that the dance "...was a choreographic look at the ruins of humanity in some horribly projected future." So much for the intention of the artist, or the lack of it.

Gordon, David. "Fragments" in Perron, Wendy and Cameron, Daniel J. (eds.) (1981) ''Judson Dance Theater: 1962-1966'' (exhibition catalogue) Bennington, Vermont: The Bennington College Judson Project. Gordon and Setterfield were described during this period as "amiable saboteurs ...

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

the stylistic skill of old music-hall comedians ... nda wickedly perceptive wit."McDonagh (1971), pp.279-281 In 1966, vociferously negative audience response to his solo piece ''Walks and Digressions'' – Gordon wrote that " e audience booed, hissed, clapped, stamped their feet, and walked out across the performance space while I was working"Gordon, David (March 1975) "It's About Time" ''

The Drama Review ''TDR: The Drama Review'' is an academic journal focusing on performances in their social, economic, aesthetic, and political contexts. The journal covers dance, theatre, music, performance art, visual art, popular entertainment, media, sports, ...

'' v.19 n.1 – caused him to stop making dances for five years.

The review was devastating, and I wasn't clever enough to understand or use the possible notoriety attached to that performance (after all, obviously no one was bored) in a positive career move. I had discovered that publicly performing my own work placed me in an exceedingly vulnerable position emotionally and physically, and I wanted none of it. I believe now that I was basically uncommitted to my work and unable to take responsibility publicly for my decisions. I had worked mainly for the positive response of my peers and of an audience, not gearing my work towards that response but expecting it as the dividends of having worked. When the audience and my peers turned on me, I picked up my marbles and went home. I just decided to stop making work.

He continued to perform as a member of Yvonne Rainer's company and, from 1970 to 1976, Banes, Sally (Winter 1977) "An Interview with David Gordon" ''Eddy: About Dance'' as a founding member of the improvisational dance group, The Grand Union, which evolved out of Rainer's company and included Rainer,

Trisha Brown Trisha Brown (November 25, 1936 – March 18, 2017) was an American choreographer and dancer, and one of the founders of the Judson Dance Theater and the postmodern dance movement. Brown’s dance/movement method, with which she and her dancer ...

Barbara Dilley Barbara Dilley (Lloyd) (born 1938) is an American dancer, performance artist, improvisor, choreographer and educator, best known for her work as a prominent member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (1963-1968), and then with the groundbreaking ...

Douglas Dunn Douglas Eaglesham Dunn, OBE (born 23 October 1942) is a Scottish poet, academic, and critic. He is Professor of English and Director of St Andrew's Scottish Studies Institute at St Andrew's University. Background Dunn was born in Inchinnan, Re ...

, Nancy Lewis and Steve Paxton, among others.Gordon:

I spent about six years in a company called The Grand Union, which was composed of six to nine artists. All performances, which generally lasted about two hours, were totally improvised. We didn't always know how many of us would be there or what we would be looking like, or who would leave halfway through.

Gordon, David (January 1983) Remarks made during the "Collaboration: Investigating New Forms" session at the

National Conference in June 1982. Published in "TCG Focus: Combining Forces" in ''Theatre Communications'' Gordon was later to say about his work with the Grand Union: "It’s about being perverse. I want to do what you don’t expect me to do. I want to do what I don’t expect me to do. I also can’t tell if you’re having a good time unless I can make you laugh." Gordon credits all of these early experiences with laying the groundwork for his artistic process:

Jimmy aringwas an education for me, as he was for most people who came in contact with him. ... etaught me about art and developed my taste, but I didn't begin to understand about making work until later with Yvonne Rainer. From her I found out what it is to be an artist – a person who makes choices and stands behind them. Then, from working with Trisha Brown in the Grand Union, I learned how to edit, how to boil a thing down to its essence. Jimmy's approach was much more whimsical. His way of working led you – or led me at any rate – to accept any idea as valid simply because I'd thought of it. I thought of it and I kept it, and what came next was what I thought of next. I don't believe Jimmy meant to absolve me of all responsibility for my work, but I got the impression that wild intuitive guessing was all I had to do to make art. I never threw anything away. I remember distinctly Jimmy's saying, "If you don't like it now, you can get to like it. If you can't get to like it, who says you have to like it?" The point of it was to demystify art and free the artist from the limitations of his own taste. There was a great sense of liberation that stemmed from John Cage's championing of this philosophy, and Jimmy, among others, was establishing alternatives to the kind of teaching that had dominated modern-dance composition up until then.

In 1971 Gordon returned to making dances when Rainer put him in charge of her classes while she went to India, from which came the material which became ''Sleepwalking'', first performed at Oberlin College and then in New York. Gordon formed the Pick Up Performance Company that year – incorporated in 1978 as a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization – to support and administer his work in live performance and media. His work during this period included: *''The Matter'' (1972) – which utilized volunteer non-dancers who had signed up at a Grand Union concert to participate in Gordon's next project. The piece was re-mounted in 1979, with additions and subtractions, as ''The Matter (Plus and Minus)'', and was later the inspiration for ''The Matter/2012: Art and Archive'', performed at

Danspace Project Danspace Project is a performance venue for contemporary dance. Its performances are held in St. Mark's Church in the East Village area of the Manhattan borough of New York City. History Founded in 1974 by Barbara Dilley, Mary Overlie, and Larr ...

at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, as well as ''The Matter at MoMA / 2018'', performed at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

as part of the retrospective exhibition ''Judson Dance Theater: The Work is Never Done''. Macaulay, Alastair (October 19, 2018
"At MoMA, Judson Dance Looks Back With Anger and Toughness"
''

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'' *''Times Four'' (1975), *''Personal Inventory'' (1976) – in which Gordon and Setterfield each had to improvise 500 different movements, counting them as they went, *''Wordsworth and the Motor'' (1977), *''Not Necessarily Recognizable Objectives'' (1977) – for which Gordon won the first ''

'' Soho Arts Award in Avant-Garde Dance, *''What Happened'' (1978), *''An Audience With the Pope (or This Is Where I Came In)'' (1979) and the seminal ''Chair'' (1974), a duet for Gordon and Setterfield in which they perform with metal folding chairs, the use of which became a signature of his work. Copeland, Roger (Autumn/Winter 1996) "The Double Identity of David Gordon" ''Dance Theatre Journal'' v. 13 n.2 Critic

Deborah Jowitt Deborah Jowitt is an American dance critic, author, and choreographer. Her career in dance began as a performer and choreographer. Jowitt has received several awards for her work, including a ''Bessie'' (New York Dance and Performance Award) for h ...

wrote of his works during this period that "process and polish were linked in pretty paradoxes." By this time Gordon and Setterfield had developed a reputation as "the dance world's most intriguing couple. Ideal mates, ideal opposites, yin and yang, male and female, total communication." Also during this period and into the 1980s, Gordon, a natural contrarian, did not call himself a "choreographer", but billed his pieces as being "constructed" by him. Although he has collaborated with visual artists and designers such as

Power Boothe Power Boothe is an American painter known for his abstract works as well as set designs for experimental theatre, dance and video productions. He has also produced short films and visual theater. As a painter, he has been referred to as a "Rogue ...

Red Grooms Red Grooms (born Charles Rogers Grooms on June 7, 1937) is an American multimedia artist best known for his colorful pop art, pop-art constructions depicting frenetic scenes of modern urban life. Grooms was given the nickname "Red" by Dominic ...

and

Santo Loquasto Santo Richard Loquasto (born July 26, 1944) is an American production designer, scenic designer, and costume designer for stage, film, and dance. His work has included the films ''Big'', ''Radio Days'', '' Cafe Society'', ''Blue Jasmine'', ''D ...

, Gordon has often, usually without being credited for it, designed the costumes, decor and props for his pieces. In doing so, he frequently utilizes the contents of thrift stores and makes use of mundane materials such as

cardboard Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. The construction can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard which is made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light ...

foam core Foamcore, foam board, or paper-faced foam board is a lightweight and easily cut material used for wikt:mount, mounting of photographic prints, as backing for picture frame, picture framing, for making scale models, and in painting. It consists ...

, and gaffers tape, as well as commercially produced items such as clothing racks and rolling ladders. Gordon's hand-made score for ''One Part of The Matter'' – an excerpt from ''The Matter'' for solo dancer (Setterfield) – which consisted of cut-outs of poses culled from photographs by

Eadweard Muybridge Eadweard Muybridge (; 9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904, born Edward James Muggeridge) was an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the first ...

taped to sheets of paper, is in the drawings collection of the

in New York. The score came about because Setterfield was on tour with the Cunningham company, and Gordon sent her the poses so she could memorize them in her hotel room. When she returned, they worked together on the transitions between the poses. Since then, Setterfield has performed ''One Part of the Matter'' in many venues around the world.

1980s

In 1980, Gordon gave up his job creating window displays, which for 18 years had supported both his work and his family – his son

Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...

was born in 1962 – to work full-time as a performer and choreographer. He also appeared in two seminal documentaries about postmodern dance, ''Beyond the Mainstream: The Postmoderns'', part of the

''Dance in America'' series, and Michael Blackwood's ''Making Dances'', which focused on seven choreographers: Brown,

Lucinda Childs Lucinda Childs (born June 26, 1940) is an American postmodern dancer/ choreographer and actress. Her compositions are known for their minimalistic movements yet complex transitions. Childs is most famous for being able to turn the slightest mov ...

, Gordon,

, Kenneth King,

Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recordin ...

and Sara Rudner. Croce, Arlene (June 30, 1980) "Dancing: Slowly Then the History of Them Comes Out". ''The New Yorker'' In the 1980s, his Pick-Up Company toured throughout the United States, performing both intimate pieces such as: *''Close Up'' (1979) – a duet for Gordon and Setterfield – and *''Dorothy and Eileen'' (1980), in which two female dancers improvise dialogue about their mothers – which has been called " e of his most successfully conceived and rendered pieces"; as well as larger-scale works, including: *''T.V. Reel'' (1982), *''Trying Times'' (1982) – which ends with Gordon being put on trial by his dancers; this piece and ''Framework'' which followed it feature "visual devices" – such as open wooden frames, canvas cloths painted with diagonal stripes, and painted

Masonite Masonite is a type of hardboard, a kind of engineered wood, which is made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood fibers in a process patented by William H. Mason. It is also called Quartrboard, Isorel, hernit, karlit, torex, treetex, and ...

boards, as well as a double-hinged construction of wood-framed heavy cardboard panels which was manipulated by the dancers into numerous different patterns which they then interacted with – by artist Power Boothe, some of which will also later be used in ''Dancing Henry V''. *''Framework'' (1983), *''My Folks'' (1984) – set to klezmer music, *''Four Men Nine Lives'' (1985), *''Transparent Means for Travelling Light'' (1986) – performed to a score by John Cage, and the mammoth ''United States'' (1988–1989), which was co-commissioned by 26 presenters in 16 statesStamler, Gayle (October 1988) "'United States' comes together" in ''ACUCAA Bulletin'' and has so many sections which exist in different but related versions that they have never all been performed together. Many of Gordon's pieces from this period had their premiere at David White's

Dance Theater Workshop Dance Theater Workshop, colloquially known as DTW, was a New York City performance space and service organization for dance companies that operated from 1965 to 2011. After a merger it became known as New York Live Arts Located as 219 West 19th ...

. Gordon also made work for other companies during this time, including: *''Grote Ogen'' ("Big Eyes") for Wekcentrum Dans in the Netherlands (1981), *''Pas et Par'' for Theatre du Silence in Lyons (1981), *''Counter Revolution'' (1981), ''Field Study'' (1984) and ''Bach and Offenbach'' (1986) for London's Extemporary Dance Theatre, *''Piano Movers'' to music by

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...

for

Dance Theatre of Harlem Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is an American professional ballet company and school based in Harlem, New York City. It was founded in 1969 under the directorship of Arthur Mitchell and later partnered with Karel Shook. Milton Rosenstock served ...

(1984), Croce, Arlene (July 8, 1985) "Dancing: Opus Posthumous". ''The New Yorker'' *''Beethoven and Boothe'' (1985) for Group Recherche Choreographique de l'Opera de Paris, and *''Mates'' for

Rambert Dance Company Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...

(1988). He also made '' Field, Chair and Mountain'' (1985) and ''Murder'' (1986) for American Ballet Theatre (ABT) at the invitation of Mikhail Baryshnikov. ''Murder'' later became part of ''David Gordon's Made in U.S.A.'', a television program commissioned by

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

and ''

'' in 1987 as part of the '' Dance in America'' series. Gordon received a Primetime Emmy Award for the program. For the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in 1983, Gordon choreographed Act III, the dance section, of ''

The Photographer ''The Photographer'' is a three-part mixed media performance accompanied by music (also sometimes referred to as a chamber opera) by composer Philip Glass. The libretto is based on the life and homicide trial of 19th-century English photographer ...

'', a multi-media piece about

with music by Philip Glass, in which he incorporated Setterfield's earlier solo ''One Part of the Matter''. Also, he directed '' Renard'', a one-act chamber opera-ballet by Igor Stravinsky, for the

Spoleto Festival USA Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of America's major performing arts festivals. It was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to establish a counterpart to the Festival dei Due ...

in 1986.

1990s

''The Mysteries and What's So Funny?'' (1991), in which

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

– played by Setterfield – is the central figure around which all the action swirls, received a Bessie and an Obie Award. It was written, directed and choreographed by Gordon with music again by Philip Glass and visual design by

. The script was published in ''Grove New American Theater''. Gordon then collaborated with his son, playwright Ain Gordon, on ''The Family Business'', which premiered at

in New York City in February 1994, received an Obie Award, and was presented at New York Theatre Workshop and at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 1995. The cast for ''The Family Business'' consisted of both Gordons, father and son, and Setterfield. In 1994, for the American Repertory Theatre (ART) in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

and the

American Music Theatre Festival The Prince Theater is a non-profit theatrical producing organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and specializing in music theatre, including opera, music drama, musical comedy and experimental forms. Founded in 1984 as the American Mu ...

(AMTF) in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Gordon directed and choreographed an original musical, '' Shlemiel the First'', adapted by

Robert Brustein Robert Sanford Brustein (born April 21, 1927) is an American theatrical critic, producer, playwright, writer, and educator. He founded both the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, and the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Ma ...

, from the stories of

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer ( yi, יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער; November 11, 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Polish-born American Jewish writer who wrote and published first in Yiddish and later translated himself into English with the help ...

, and set to traditional klezmer music with new lyrics by

Arnold Weinstein Arnold Weinstein (June 10, 1927 – September 4, 2005) was an American poet, playwright, and librettist, who referred to himself as a "theatre poet". Weinstein is best known for his collaborations with composer William Bolcom, including the ope ...

.According to Alvin Klein, writing in ''

'':

"Shlemiel" is choreographed and directed by Mr. Gordon who, it appears, regards its eight musicians (the Klezmer Conservatory Band) as cast members in an interweaving of music and moving stage pictures, of words, spoken and sung. It can be said that Singer is the original author, Mr. Brustein is the adapter and Mr. Gordon is the auteur.

Klein, Alvin (April 9, 1995
"Theater: 'Shlemiel' Continues A Path to Broadway"
''The New York Times'' Subsequent productions have been seen at the

Geffen Playhouse The Geffen Playhouse (or the Geffen) is a not-for-profit theater company founded by Gilbert Cates in 1995. It produces plays in two theaters in Geffen Playhouse, which is owned by University of California Los Angeles. The Playhouse is located ...

in Los Angeles – for which Gordon won Drama-Logue Awards for his direction and choreography in 1997 – and the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. The show also toured throughout

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and in Stamford, Connecticut, and was re-mounted in 2010 at

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...

's Alexander Kasser Theatre by Peak Performances. This production was re-mounted by Theatre for a New Audience in Manhattan, New York City in late 2011, at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Skirball Center for the Performing Arts The Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, generally known as NYU Skirball, is an 850-seat theater at 566 LaGuardia Place in Manhattan, New York, owned by New York University. It was named after philanthropist Jack H. Skirball. The th ...

, in association with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. In 1993 Gordon received a National Theatre Artist Residency Grant, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by

, to work with the Guthrie Theater in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, where he directed and choreographed '' The Firebugs'' by

Max Frisch Max Rudolf Frisch (; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity, individuality, responsibility, morality, and political commitment. The use of irony is a significant featur ...

for their mainstage in 1995. He also received a 1996 Pew National Dance Residency Artist Grant, administered by the

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

, becoming the only artist to receive residency grants from Pew in both theater and dance. Ain and David Gordon collaborated again on the book and direction for ''Punch & Judy Get Divorced'', with music by Edward Barnes and lyrics by

, which premiered at AMTF in 1996 and was subsequently presented by ART. The piece began in 1991 as a one-act television program made for

KTCA Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. (abbreviated TPT, doing business as Twin Cities PBS) is a nonprofit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that operates the Twin Cities' two PBS member television stations, KTCA-TV (channe ...

for their

series '' Alive TV'', and had a second life as a dance piece, set to music by Carl Stalling, for Baryshnikov's

White Oak Dance Project White Oak Dance Project was a dance company founded in 1990 by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris. The company took the name of the animal preservation and land plantation owned by philanthropist and Baryshnikov friend Howard Gilman. Gilman buil ...

in 1992. In 1999, the Gordons worked together once more, this time on a musical about women directors in the early days of motion pictures, '' The First Picture Show'', with music by

Jeanine Tesori Jeanine Tesori (known earlier in her career as Jeanine Levenson) is an American composer and musical arranger best known for her work in the theater. She is the most prolific and honored female theatrical composer in history, with five Broadway m ...

, for ACT in San Francisco and the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

2000s–2020s

Other productions Gordon has created as writer, director and choreographer include ''Autobiography of a Liar'' (1999), ''FAMILY$DEATH@ART.COMedy'' (2001) – for which he received his third Bessie Award – and ''Private Lives of Dancers'' (2002), all originally presented at Danspace in New York. In 2000, he was commissioned by ACT to write an adaptation of

Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908), a classic of children's literature, as well as '' The Reluctant Dragon''. Both books w ...

's ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

'', with music by Gina Leishman, called ''Some Kind of Wind in the Willows''. This production was workshopped but was never produced. In that same year, he assembled and directed for Baryshnikov's White Oak Project a retrospective program of postmodern dance, ''PAST/Forward'', which included pieces by Gordon,

Simone Forti Simone Forti (born March 25, 1935), is an American Italian Postmodern artist, dancer, choreographer, and writer. Since the 1950s, Forti has exhibited, performed, and taught workshops all over the world. Her innovations in Postmodern dance, inclu ...

, Steve Paxton,

Deborah Hay Deborah Hay (born 1941 in Brooklyn, New York) is a choreographer, dancer, dance theorist, and author working in the field of experimental postmodern dance. She is one of the original founders of the Judson Dance Theater. Hay's signature slow and ...

, Yvonne Rainer, Lucinda Childs and Trisha Brown.In his statement for the program of ''PAST/Forward'', Gordon thanks Baryshnikov, "who keeps giving me jobs I don't know how to do." Banes (2003), pp.202-03 In 2004, Gordon made '' Dancing Henry Five'', which utilized

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

's music for Laurence Olivier's film of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...

'', as well as dialogue from the film and recorded dramatic recitations of the text by

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, inc ...

and others. This production received an American Masterpiece Grant from the

Dance Program, and has been seen in New York; the

Walker Arts Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, t ...

; the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

; the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

; Lexington, Kentucky; and ODC/Dance in

. In 2011 it was revived and performed at

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, Columbia College in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and the

University of Albany A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, New York. Gordon has also adapted, directed and choreographed a number of classic theatre works: * Eugène Ionesco's ''

The Chairs ''The Chairs'' (french: Les Chaises) is a one-act play by Eugène Ionesco, described as an absurdist "tragic farce". It was first performed in Paris in 1952. Setting A high tower surrounded by water. Characters *Old Man, aged 95 *Old Woman, a ...

'' (2004, presented in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City) – in which he and Setterfield played the Old Man and the Old Woman to a solo

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

score composed by Michael Gordon (no relation) and performed by Wendy Sutter both live and pre-recorded; *''

He Who Gets Slapped ''He Who Gets Slapped'' ( rus, Тот, кто получает пощёчины, links=no) is a play in four acts by Russian dramatist Leonid Andreyev; completed in August 1915 and first produced in that same year at the Moscow Art Theatre on ...

'' (2004, for Theatre for a New Audience in New York); *

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...

' '' The Birds'' (2006, as ''Aristophanes in Birdonia''); *'' The Roundheads and the Pointheads'' by

Bertholt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

with music by

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...

(2002–2009, as ''Uncivil Wars: Moving with Brecht and Eisler''), commissioned by the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis and

The Kitchen The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary avant-garde performance and experimental art institution located at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was foun ...

in New York City, and also performed at

. The piece was workshopped at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

, and was later re-explored in Philadelphia in 2014 under the title ''Political Shenanigans''. *

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...

's ''

Six Characters in Search of an Author ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' ( it, Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore, link=no ) is an Italian play by Luigi Pirandello, written and first performed in 1921. An absurdist fiction, absurdist metatheatrical, metatheatric play about th ...

'', plus two other short pieces by the writer, became the basis of Gordon's ''Beginning of the End of the...'', which played for the month of June 2012 at the

Joyce SoHo The Joyce Theater (“The Joyce") is a 472-seat dance performance venue located in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The building opened in 1941 as the Elgin Theater, a movie house, and was gut-renovated and reconfigured in 1981-82 to re ...

, in Manhattan. Gordon mounted in October 2012 for

''The Matter/2012: Art and Archive'', based on his early work ''The Matter'' (1972–1979), and including versions of ''Mannequin'' (1962) and ''Chair'' (1974). The piece was part of the series ''Platform 2012: Judson Now'', connected to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first

performances, and was called by ''The New York Times'' "a breathtaking evening of dance that pays homage to his early days." In April 2013, Gordon was named as one of twenty artists who received a Doris Duke Artist Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, an unrestricted multi-year award of $225,000 plus additional amounts for audience development and "personal reserves or creative exploration during what are commonly retirement years for most Americans". Gordon's archives were accepted in 2016 for donation by the Jerome Robbins Dance Collection of the

; Gordon was assisted in preparing them by archivist Patsy Gay. The donation was marked by a series of workshop performances called ''LIVE ARCHIVEOGRAPHY'', presented at the library's

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...

Auditorium, as well as an installation, ''David Gordon ARCHIVEOGRAPHY - Under Construction'' in the library's Vincent Astor Gallery from December 6, 2016, to April 6, 2017. In ''The New York Times'', Gia Kouurlas referred to the exhibit as "a manic and magical installation". Gordon's commentary on his life and work is chronicled on his archive website, access to which makes up part of the installation. A third version of ''LIVE ARCHIVEOGRAPHY'', subtitled "Coupledom or Twice-Cooked Pork and Re-fried Beans", was subsequently presented at the ODC Theater in May 2017 in San Francisco, and at

in New York City in June, presented by

Lumberyard A lumber yard is a location where lumber and wood-related products used in construction and/or home improvement projects are processed or stored. Some lumber yards offer retail sales to consumers, and some of these may also provide services suc ...

. In 2018, the

in New York City mounted a retrospective exhibition, ''

: The Work Is Never Done'', which included another version of ''The Matter'', called ''The Matter at MoMA / 2018''.Choreographer Pam Tanowitz was one of the performers in the MoMA project. In a 2022 interview, she commented that Gordon was one of her mentors, and that performing his ''Mannequin Dance'' while Gordon sang Fanny Brice's " Second Hand Rose" with a Yiddish accent was "the same as going to temple" for her. She "didn't know whether to laugh or cry".

Schaefer, Bruce (June 28, 2022
"Pam Tanowitz’s Next Act: ‘I Need to Make a Jewish Dance’"
''

Two years later, Gordon took ''The Matter'' into a new medium with the release of ''The Philadelphia Matter - 1972/2020'', a video performance by a "virtual dance company" of Philadelphia performers doing "Song & Dance", "Close Up" and "Chair", which were transformed and edited by Gordon and video artist Jorge Cosineau as part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. The video was selected by ''

'' as one of the best in dance in 2020. On July 14, 2021, Peak Performances released ''The New Adventures of Old David (What Happened 1978–2021)'', a video piece written, choreographed and directed by Gordon, which he based on his 1978 piece "What Happened". New performances recorded at Montclair State University's Alexander Kasser Theater were combined by Gordon and editor Daniel Madoff with archival footage and newly shot sections of Gordon, his wife Valda Setterfield, and their long-time stage manager explaining how ''What Happened'' happened. Near the end of his life, Gordon returned to the visual arts he had originally studied in college, and made digital collages on the computer, commenting that "The computer is my enda life rectangle."

Death

Gordon died in his loft studio home – located in

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

in lower Manhattan, New York City – on January 29, 2022, at the age of 85. He and Setterfield had celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary the night before.

Reception

Gordon's work has been generally well received by the critics and the public, although his piece ''Field, Chair and Mountain'' for American Ballet Theater, his first ballet, was reportedly booed at its premiere at the Kennedy Center Opera House in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1985. The critical response was more generous, calling it "remarkable", "irreverent and clever", "a mesmerizing exploration of partnering", and "one of the most beautiful and distinctive alletsin ABT's current repertory", and praising Gordon's "deadpan humor and ... obvious nostalgic affection for things romantic", and his "energy and wit". However,

in ''

'' said that the ballet was "the kind of folly that advances to the limit of frivolity on the strength of passion," and in ''The New York Times'',

Anna Kisselgoff Anna Kisselgoff (born 12 January 1938) is a dance critic and cultural news reporter for ''The New York Times''. She began at the ''Times'' as a dance critic and cultural news reporter in 1968, and became its Chief Dance Critic in 1977, a role she h ...

wrote that "Despite tsoriginal aspects, "Field, Chair and Mountain" does not add up to anything beyond its isolated parts. Mr. Gordon's ideas seem dressed up in opera-house trappings that hang like ill-fitting clothes". Twenty years later, Gordon, who had not previously considered himself to be a political artist, created ''Dancing Henry Five'' in response to the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

and the

war in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. Other armed conflicts involving Iraq * Wars during Mandatory Iraq ** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921 * Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...

.Kaufman, Sarah (May 14, 2007) "Positions of Power" ''The Washington Post'' It also received mostly positive critical response. It was called "a bare-bones production that created a powerful epic mood" by

John Rockwell John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to '' Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all ...

, who compared it favorably to a production at

. Other critics praised its "humor and deft movement", its "masterful blend of charm and sting", and called it "stunning and provocative", while describing the movement in the dance-theater piece as "stripped down and democratic". "It takes a witty craftsman of dance theater like Gordon to turn a heroically jingoistic play into a wry but fervent plea for peace", wrote one critic about the most recent revival of the piece, while another wrote that "The means are simple, the dancing far from virtuoso; the thought and meanings are complex." However, several years prior to the success of ''Dancing Henry Five'', Gordon collaborated with Ain Gordon and composer

on the stage musical ''The First Picture Show'', about female directors in the early days of the movie business, which starred Estelle Parsons and

Ellen Greene Ellen Greene is an American actress and singer. She has had a long and varied career as a singer, particularly in cabaret, as an actress and singer in numerous stage productions, particularly musical theatre, as well as having performed in many ...

. The piece was extensively workshopped and performed in San Francisco, at the American Conservatory Theater, and in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum, which had commissioned the piece. After the success of '' Shlemiel the First'' in L.A. several years before, expectations were high for the new musical, but the critical reception was not overly positive – the critic for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' wrote: "This tantalizing if unformed project has too vital a subject, or subjects, for mere nostalgia. Occasionally wonderful and never dull, 'The First Picture Show' lacks a certain urgency in its storytelling." – and the production had no commercial transfer after its subscription run. Some years later, in response to a question about whether his career had ever "hit the wall", Gordon said: "I died in L.A.", but acknowledges that he then "came back to New York and began again, choreographing for my own company."Kourlas, Gia (July 24–30, 2008) "'I'm always thinking I've failed'" ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' One of the results of starting over was ''Dancing Henry Five.''

Analysis and interpretation

Throughout his career, critics and other dance artists have encapsulated Gordon and his work: *

Gordon wants to sensitize the spectator to a shifting dialectic between the individual gesture and the larger choreographic structure in which it is embedded. Rather than highlighting the individual gesture as such, Gordon playfully investigates the ways in which a discreet movement in a dance phrase will change in terms of how we perceive it as a result of the position it occupies in systematically varied choreographic complexes. (
Noël Carroll Noël Carroll (born 1947) is an American philosopher considered to be one of the leading figures in contemporary philosophy of art. Although Carroll is best known for his work in the philosophy of film (he is a proponent of cognitive film theo ...
, 1978)

ordon Ordon may refer to: * Juliusz Konstanty Ordon, a Polish rebel * Ordo (palace) An orda (also ordu, ordo, or ordon) or horde was a historical sociopolitical and military structure found on the Eurasian Steppe, usually associated with the Turkic ...
has been labelled a formalist, a structuralist, a master wordsmith, an avant-garde comedian, a satirist, a reflexive parodist. His works are profound investigations of correspondences and collisions between language and movement, examinations of the creative and performing processes, explorations of structures. They are also enormously ''likable'' and often delightfully humorous. (
Amanda Smith Amanda Berry Smith (January 23, 1837 – February 24, 1915) was a Methodist preacher and former slave who funded The Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home for Abandoned and Destitute Colored Children outside Chicago. She was a leader i ...
, 1981) Smith, Amanda (February 1981) "David Gordon: Keeping the Options Open" '' Dancemagazine''

In David Gordon's dances, simple movement phrases are reiterated until what you notice is not the movement itself but the distinctiveness of the bodies of the performers. Gordon's genius lies both in his choice of dancers, most noticeably his wife and longtime collaborator Valda Setterfield, and in his gestural vocabulary. Also, his use of language underscores the message of his dances, which is that the body's actions and signals, like words, can change their meaning depending on their context. The phrasing of Gordon's movements is uninflected, fluid, tending to slide comfortably through the memory, so that what you want to pay attention to is the very manner in which these particular interesting figures do whatever it is they are doing. ( Sally Banes, 1981)

ngtime observers of Gordon's work would be hard pressed to find a better definition of it than one vast game that he plays with Valda Setterfield. His sense of irony has been bouncing off her level, unassuming façade for years. Since she is always perfectly straight, Gordon's own gift for projecting comic ambiguity in language and movement can shine all the brighter, with an innocence beyond stain. It may be that without Setterfield as chief sounding board and accomplice he would not have developed his double edge at all – at least, not into the guileless satirical instrument it is now. (
Arlene Croce Arlene Louise Croce (born May 5, 1934) founded '' Ballet Review'' magazine in 1965. She was a dance critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1973 to 1998. Career Prior to Croce's long career as a dance writer, she also wrote film criticis ...
, 1982)

What
ordon Ordon may refer to: * Juliusz Konstanty Ordon, a Polish rebel * Ordo (palace) An orda (also ordu, ordo, or ordon) or horde was a historical sociopolitical and military structure found on the Eurasian Steppe, usually associated with the Turkic ...
is, I think, is a plasario punographer: playwright/impresario/punster/choreographer. He's also the dance world's leading humanist. His work has a warmth, a glow, a wry humor and an all-encompassing love for life. The quirks, foibles and impossible complexities of our urban environment are seen and shown as both invigorating and consoling, frustrating and stimulating. (Allen Robertson, 1982)

...Gordon, by nature, is a critic. His work both presents and comments on itself. ... Gordon at heart is a vaudevillian, a weaver of yarns, a coomposer of riddles, a magician confounding expectations. The basis of his work his movement. Photographic images, video, and, most important, the spoken and written word are collaborative elements. From these materials Gordon constructs dance anagrams, whose meaning and tone shift rapidly. ... Historian Sally Banes has compared Gordon's work to that of a cubist painter, noting his lamination of images, movements and words. Others have remarked on the inseparability of life and work in his performance pieces. (Sali Ann Krigsman, 1982)

Formed by the polemical 1960s, Gordon seems to be, by nature, an ironist, with an appreciation of paradox, a fascination with the psychology of partnering, an ambivalence about glamour and fame. On occasion he has revealed a critical temperament and, in postmodern (or Balanchinian) fashion, an interest in layered allusions. He also husbands themes and effects. ( Mindy Aloff, 1985)

Gordon is a true contrarian; he always seems to work against the grain. ... The mythology of he_ he_Judson_Dance_Theatre">Judson_Dance_Theatre.html"_;"title="he_Judson_Dance_Theatre">he_Judson_Dance_Theatreoften_equates_the_entire_era_with_Yvonne_Rainer#No_Manifesto.html" ;"title="Judson_Dance_Theatre.html" ;"title="Judson_Dance_Theatre.html" ;"title="he Judson Dance Theatre">he Judson Dance Theatre">Judson_Dance_Theatre.html" ;"title="he Judson Dance Theatre">he Judson Dance Theatreoften equates the entire era with Yvonne Rainer#No Manifesto">Yvonne Rainer's manifesto of renunciation. ... No to transformations and magic? Not for David Gordon. (Although it's essential to point out that his attitude toward transformation and magic has more in common with the work of hip, anti-illusionistic conjurors like Penn and Teller than with the overproduced, mysterioso/glitz of David Copperfield (magician), David Copperfield.) Gordon is the sort of magician who shows you where the rabbit is hiding in the hat. ... [H]e isn't the first choreographer to make a major contribution to the theatre. ... But Gordon ''is'' the first "dance person" who's as much a playwright as a choreographer. (
Roger Copeland Roger Copeland is emeritus professor of theater and dance at Oberlin College where he taught History of Western Theatre among other classes. He enjoyed lecturing on the Choric Dithyramb. Publications His essays about theater, film, and dance have ...
, 1996)

David Gordon is no ordinary choreographer, He understands how to manipulate text and dance so that the result evokes an invigorating place, where thoughtful theater takes on the appearance of being casual. It never is just that. ... eplays with many pieces of seemingly disparate phrases before they are transformed into an eloquent whole. In many ways, he is a gleaner of his own work, which he files away with the possibility of revisiting it in the future. ... But as much as he revives material after recontextualizing it, most fundamental to the vitality of isrepertory is not what the movement looks like or even what the words say, but the beguiling way in which they fit together. He is a director who knows dance. And even though there is a bit of everything in his work – humor, musicality, lush movement – he is unpredictable. (Gia Kourlas, 2002) Kourlas, Gia (January 6, 2002) "Rehearsing for Dance And for Life". ''The New York Times''

rhaps what matters most to Mr. Gordon — even more than the endlessly ambiguous overlaps of life and art — is the way the present is the echo chamber of the past. n ''The Matter at MoMA / 2018''you see younger dancers working on movement material that Mr. Gordon made years ago for Ms. Setterfield and himself; you see films and stills of Mr. Gordon and — especially — Ms. Setterfield.And you see films of great couples of old films: Lillian Gish and
Richard Barthelmess Richard Semler Barthelmess (May 9, 1895 – August 17, 1963) was an American film actor, principally of the Hollywood silent era. He starred opposite Lillian Gish in D. W. Griffith's ''Broken Blossoms'' (1919) and ''Way Down East'' (1920) and w ...
in '' Broken Blossoms'', Celia Johnson and
Trevor Howard Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 September 1913 – 7 January 1988) was an English stage, film, and television actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved star status with his role in the film ''Brief Encounter'' (1945), followed by ''T ...
in ''
Brief Encounter ''Brief Encounter'' is a 1945 British romantic drama film directed by David Lean from a screenplay by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play ''Still Life''. Starring Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, and Joyce Carey, ...
'', Elizabeth Taylor and
Montgomery Clift Edward Montgomery Clift (; October 17, 1920 – July 23, 1966) was an American actor. A four-time Academy Award nominee, he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men", according to ''The New York Times''. He is best remembered ...
in '' A Place in the Sun''. These screen relationships in turn become archetypes in whose shadows the Gordon-Setterfield partnership (like countless other romantic and marital relationships) has developed.(
Alastair Macaulay Alastair Macaulay is an English writer and dance critic. He was the chief dance critic for '' The New York Times'' from 2007 until he retired in 2018. He was previously chief dance critic at '' The Times'' and Literary Supplement and chief theater ...
, 2018)

"Witty" may be dance critics' favorite word to describe David Gordon and Valda Setterfield. The pioneering director and dancer are renowned for the poignant humor of their work together – his uncanny sense of irony has found the ideal vehicle in her straitlaced, British facade. ... As much a playwright as a choreographer, Gordon has deftly used text, gesture and repetition in lauded works for his own Pick Up Performance Co(s) as well companies like American Ballet Theatre. ( Jennifer Stahl, 2019)

Gordon's satirical humor, impeccable timing and ability to see the stage as a kind of moving painting — and to design it with care, precision and the kind of innate style that cannot be taught — made his vision singular. (Gia Kourlas, 2022)

ordon'sgentleness and wit were always a pleasure, but I think they were congenial cover for deep and sometimes dark thoughts about the world. That’s what made his work interesting. He’d take a chair, a picture frame, a simple step, and suddenly there was provocative theater. He was a sort of alchemist in that way. ( Mikhail Baryshnikov, 2022)

Awards and honors

*1978 – ''SoHo Weekly News'' SoHo Arts Award in Avant-Garde Dance (New Dance) for ''Not Necessarily Recognizable Objectives'' Smith, Nancy Stark (Winter 1979) "David Gordon & Valda Setterfield Talk about Labels, Madmen, Vanity and more". ''Contact Quarterly'' v.4 n.2 *1981 – Guggenheim Fellowship *1984 –

Bessie Award The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...

, for ''Framework'', ''The Photographer'' and sustained achievementComplete List of Bessie winners
*1987 – Guggenheim Fellowship *1988 – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Classical Music/Dance Programming, Writing for ''David Gordon's Made in USA'' *1991 – Bessie Award, for ''The Mysteries and What's So Funny'' *1992 – Obie Award, for ''The Mysteries and What's So Funny''Obies search
*1993 – National Theatre Residency,

Pew Charitable Trust The Pew Charitable Trusts is an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), founded in 1948. With over 6 billion in assets, its stated mission is to serve the public interest by "improving public policy, informing the public, a ...

, administered by the

*1994 – Obie Award, with Ain Gordon and Valda Setterfield, for ''The Family Business'' *1996 – National Dance Residency, Pew Charitable Trust, administered by the

Roca, Octavio (December 29, 1966
"Jenkins, Tomasson Win $100,000 Dance Grants"
''San Francisco Chronicle'' *1997 – Drama-Logue Awards (2), Outstanding Achievement in Theatre, for Direction and for Choreography, for '' Shlemiel the First'' *2001 – Bessie Award, for ''FAMILY$DEATH@ART.COMedy'' *2010 – American Masterpieces: Dance,

, for ''Dancing Henry Five'' *2013 – Doris Duke Artist Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation"The 2013 Class of Doris Duke Artists Announced"
/ref> *2019 – Dance Magazine Award with Valda Setterfield.Stahl, Jennifer (September 9, 2019
"Meet the 2019 Dance Magazine Award Honorees"
''

Dance Magazine ''Dance Magazine'' is an American trade publication for dance published by the Macfadden Communications Group. It was first published in June 1927 as ''The American Dancer''. ''Dance Magazine'' has multiple sister publications, including '' Point ...

References

Informational notes Citations Bibliography * Banes, Sally (ed.) (2003) ''Reinventing Dance in the 1960s: Everything Was Possible''. University of Wisconsin Press. *McDonagh, Don (1971) ''The Rise and Fall and Rise of Modern Dance''. New York: New American Library. Further reading *Bissell, Bill and Haviland, Linda Caruso editors (2018) ''The Sentient Archive: Bodies, Performance, and Memory''. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. * Perron, Wendy (2020) ''Grand Union: Accidental Anarchists of Downtown Dance, 1970-1976''. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. *Rossen, Rebecca (2014) ''Dancing Jewish: Jewish Identity in American Modern and Postmodern Dance''. New York: Oxford University Press.

External links

Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, David 1936 births 2022 deaths American choreographers American contemporary dancers American theatre directors 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Obie Award recipients American musical theatre directors American performance artists Bessie Award winners Seward Park High School alumni Brooklyn College alumni People from the Lower East Side Writers from New York City

Style and process

Early life and career

1980s

1990s

2000s–2020s

Death

Reception

Analysis and interpretation

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links